

The fundraise follows some big developments for TerraPower, which is building a demonstration site for its Natrium nuclear technology in Wyoming.
#Fission fusion how to#
#Fission fusion upgrade#
The past few years have seen the design and upgrade of the original T-15 tokamak and other test beds and facilities at the Kurchatov Institute as physical prototypes for the Fusion Neutron Source (FNS) as well as development of the DEMO-FNS and design of a Pilot Hybrid Plant (PHP) for transmutation, tritium and fissile isotope breeding. The first Russian design of a hybrid reactor was developed in 1977 by Yevgeny Velikhov and Igor Golovin. The hybrid fission-fusion reactor is seen as a near-term commercial application of fusion pending further research on pure fusion power systems. High burnup of fissile materials leaving few by-products.The inherent safety of the system, which can be shut down rapidly and.An increase in energy recovered from uranium by a large factor.Utilisation of actinides and transmutation from long-lived radioactive waste.Thorium in a molten salt blanket will enable breeding or uranium-233. The results of the fusion reaction, which would normally be absorbed by the cooling system of the reactor, would feed into the fission section, and sustain the fission process. The concept combines conventional fission processes and fusion reactor principles, comprising a fusion reactor core in combination with a subcritical fission reactor. Hybrid reactors reduce the impact of the nuclear fuel cycle on the environment. Moreover, unlike a fusion reactor, a hybrid will not require super high temperatures to generate energy. The facility will use thorium as a fuel, which is cheaper and more abundant than uranium. Neutrons produced in a small tokamak will be used be captured in a molten salt blanket located around tokamak. The hybrid reactor combines the principles of thermonuclear and nuclear power – essentially a tokamak fusion reactor and a molten salt fission reactor.

The physical start-up of the facility is scheduled for 2020. A new fission-fusion hybrid reactor will be assembled at Russia’s Kurchatov Institute by the end of 2018, Peter Khvostenko, scientific adviser of the Kurchatov complex on thermonuclear energy and plasma technologies, announced on 14 May.
